Hot Tickets: Chicago

04Jan

Here are this week’s Hot Tickets for New Years Eve in the Chicago area. Check back every Monday at noon, CST for stellar events that fit the interests of locals and tourists alike.

Saturday, January 7 I Chemically Imbalanced Comedy Showcase featuring Rainbow Deli! Now in its twelfth season of showcasing the Best and Brightest Comedy in Chicago. Each week three different Improv or Sketch Comedy groups perform. Guest performers include groups from area Theaters like Second City, IO, Annoyance, Playground, pH, ComedySportz and more. This month will feature Rainbow Deli! Rainbow Deli takes a suggestion and turn it into poetry. They then take that poetry and turn it into thirty blistering minutes of improv. The eight person cast has performed in such stalwart Chicago improv groups as Revolver, Close Quarters, Felt, Big Yellow Bus, Mrs Dad, and Rick.

Saturday, January 7 I El Circo Cheapo Cabaret Here we go! It’s time for the next installment of El Circo Cheapo Cabaret–Chicago’s greatest cheap date-recession-busting idea. If your goal is to save money and have more fun, this show will help you do both. For only $10-15 dollars you can see people hang from fragile looking things from their toes, ladies shake their hips, crazy people walk on glass and more! They are in their new space and can now offer more seats! Yay for getting to see the show! However, they don’t have more chairs, so they’re offering $10 “picnic seats”, on the floor. You can bring a blanket and some wine and cheese and make a romantic night of it. Its like Ravinia, but without the biting insects or the chance of rain! OR, for $15, you can still have a seat in one of their amazing chairs.

Saturday, January 7 I To Cure A Hangover Sean Benjamin and Steve Mosqueda explore possible morning-after cures in this goofy, unflinching lecture-cum-performance about the unpleasant consequences of the bibulous life. Self-loathing prose from John Cheever and Charles Bukowski–two monumental drinker-writers at opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum–is intertwined with tales of the writer-performers’ experiments in thwarting a hungover “poor sense of well-being” (quite unlike the “false sense of well-being” that gets an overimbiber in trouble). Cures involve cabbage, Pedialyte, sex, and various combinations of chorizo and eggs; audience-participation bits are rewarded with free drinks. –Kerry Reid Chicago Reader

Monday, January 9 I Food Business 101: From Dream to Reality – Now We’re Cookin’ Many people starting food businesses have asked for suggestions for training during the start-up process: so good news Now We’re Cookin’ has created a short training program for new food business entrepreneurs which is open to the public for the first time. If you are planning on starting a food business, here is why you should attend: this course is specific to food business start-ups, it will provide you with virtually everything you need to know/think about to start a food business HERE IN CHICAGO, it will give you access to advisors and owners of recent start-ups, it was designed with you in mind based on feedback from entrepreneurs just like you to give you a running start at creating a successful, sustainable business! This is a 6 week program: you need to commit to completing 3 on-line modules and participating in 4 classroom sessions.

Know of any other events happening in the Chicago area this week? Post them in the comments section.